Blog

A Freakonomics Radio Bleg: What's Your Name?

Want to be part of an episode of Freakonomics Radio? We’re working on a podcast about names and we want to hear from readers and listeners about their own names — common ones, unusual ones, everything in between. So we’ve set up a voicemail line at 646-829-4478. Give us a call and tell us your full name, and then tell us a little bit about your first name – how you got it and what it means. Thanks!

Addendum: Thank you for all your emails and messages! Our line is now closed. Our names podcast will be out on 4/8/2013.

Ron "Judah Soledad" Friedman

March 5, 2013 @ 4:32pm

I created an alter ego name, Judah Soledad, about 10 yrs ago when I wrote some pieces for a friend's website. I didn't want any opinion pieces to harm future employment opportunities. Judah for "Jew" as it means in the Hebrew (I am proud of my cultural/religious heritage) and Soledad because it means isolated or solitary in Spanish, a language I very much love and a personality trait I possess, though I am also gregarious and very much a schmoozer.

reuben

March 5, 2013 @ 4:38pm

first name is Reuben. Not too strange but the fact that I'm black and the name is a hand-me-down from my father and grandfather.. who was named by his Jewish mother, around the turn of the century... now that's different. Just how did that happen? I'm also the 3rd.

Seminymous Coward

March 5, 2013 @ 5:45pm

Well, my name is Seminymous Coward. My parents were sort of weird. I feel like living with this last name excuses some quirks, though.

I called, but I doubt either my actual name or the reason for my first name is sufficiently weird to make it in.

Johnnie Sue Thayer

March 5, 2013 @ 6:05pm

My maiden name was Henry, so for a long time I was Johnnie Sue Henry and I received a lot of teasing about it - the one with three first names. And before you ask, yes, I'm a girl. And no, my parents didn't want a boy. And yes, I got a letter from the draft board. And had to send a copy of my birth certificate. And it was weird because there was even a box marked "I am not male". So I wonder how many of those they sent out. Anyway, I'm named after my paternal Grandmother - she was Johnnie Eva Henry. I'm not sure where she got it from, but she was from Tennessee and it's more common down there that you have "interchangeable" names. After all, one of my close friends in kindergarten down there was a girl named Michael . . .

matt

March 5, 2013 @ 6:23pm

Ever since reading "Freakonomics" I have really thought about this topic, and for the most part, I agree.

My one issue has always been what is "unique" or "unusual?" Is a name that is quite common in other countries/cultures really that unique just because it's not common here in the USA?

We decided to go with (what I felt was) an unusual name for our daughter because I've liked it ever since I heard it 20 years ago. According to the government website, there were 354 other girls with her name the year of her birth. (#808 on the most popular names list) whereas her twin brother has 8,416 other boys with his name born that year.

I'm just no longer sure what "unusual" means in this context. Although there weren't a LOT of girls with my pre-K daughters name, is it still considered unusual if the First Lady (aka President's wife) of a smaller country has that same name or if a former contestant in Ms. Universe has that name?

Read more...

Nick Fortescue

March 5, 2013 @ 6:32pm

I recommend every programmer reads this blog post if they are writing computer programs which handle names http://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/ it might be worth contacting the author, he probably has some good stories.

Erendira Flora Calderon

March 5, 2013 @ 6:34pm

My first name is Aztec meaning princess of Mexico, the one who smiles. My pops found it on a story. It's unusual, unique, and I've never met anyone with my name in my 24 years on this earth. It's a strong Latino name that is taken for granted since no one can pronounce it, but it gives me personality and life that most do not always get out of a name.

Russell Fisher

March 5, 2013 @ 6:44pm

Russell was my Father's Mother's maiden name. His own father died of the Spanish Influenza in 1920 when my dad was 5 yrs old, and he was raised by his mother and her father (a widower).

Dusty Cullen Wells

March 5, 2013 @ 8:15pm

My mom named me after a boy she had a crush on in high school (not my father) and my dad got my middle name out of a Louie L'Amour novel.

miriam

March 5, 2013 @ 8:58pm

I don't feel like calling-- or listening to a podcast for that matter. I am thinking that the other commenters feel the same-- or perhaps they just didn't read directions. No matter.
My name is from my great-aunt Miriam. In hebrew supposedly it means "bitter" or "contentious". Funny story-- my little brother's name is Simon which is my great-aunt's brother's name too (my grandfather, IOW).

BOUJEMAA

March 5, 2013 @ 10:32pm

Hi !!
my name is Boujemaa
it means : the father of friday
I live in Morocco,
And this name is not very used
THanks

Jingjing Wang

March 6, 2013 @ 3:35am

First Name is Jingjing, which means respectfulness in Chinese. Last name is Wang, which is the fourth popular family name in China.

Steve Cebalt

March 6, 2013 @ 12:26pm

My name is Steve. On my birth certificate: Steven. But I am Steve. I hate "Steven," because it sounds presumptious, stuffy, formal -- and none of those traits describe me. I would argue that if I had gone through life using the name "Steven" in everday discource, I would actually be a different person, because I'd be signaling to people that I am formal, serious, self-important. I am none of those things. I am casual, friendly, approachable. I'd be less approachable as "Steven" than as plain old "Steve." That letter "N" makes a world of difference. Same is true of my son Charles. We call him Charlie. He'd be a different person if his friends, teachers and parents referred to him as Charles. "Prince Charlie"? No. Prince Charles is right -- or King Charles someday. King Charlie?

anonymous

March 6, 2013 @ 2:51pm

My name is 'Sally'. I've never met another one, though I found to my surprise it is in the top 1000 girls names in the U.S.! Never liked it because when a girl's name is mentioned in pop songs, 'Sally' is always a (sometimes comical) slut. No one loves or yearns for a 'Sally'. And it also sounds like the name of a Kansas farmwife of the 1900's, growing sunflowers alongside the chicken coop (which isn't a bad thing but really old fashioned!) My first and (maiden) last name? Only four of us in the whole U.S.!

Dimitrios Alexiadis

March 6, 2013 @ 7:50pm

My name is Dimitrios Alexiadis. My first name is my grandfathers first name, and my middle name, Nickolaos is my fathers first name and my grandfather's middle name. The name Dimitrios in my context arises from the Greek Orthodox Church in northern Greece. He was an Orthodox military saint who became a martyr for the cause.

Juan Felipe Garcia Rodriguez

March 6, 2013 @ 10:41pm

My name has been a drag my entire life - from hearing it mangled by non-Spanish speakers to tickets and bench warrants mysteriously appearing on my DMV records every few years... yet, I still love it/feel attached to it. I've never made a move to change it despite all the baggage. My name means too much to my parents and I've already done enough to break their hearts for one lifetime.

Can't wait to hear the show!

Cosmo

March 7, 2013 @ 12:48am

My father & grandfather are both named Cosmo. Apparently is a rather common name on Italy. In fact, thanks to my mother, I was the first male in the lineage without that name going back to motherland..I guess fatherland in this case.